The Rev. Willie McDaniel received a rousing welcome from the members of Curry Temple C.M.E. Church on January 26 during a reception to formally greet him as the new pastor of the Compton congregation.

Most recently serving at Carter Temple C.M.E. in Dallas, Texas, Pastor McDaniel remarked that he was pleased to return to the area.

“I was previously a pastor here for almost 25 years, so when this opportunity came, it was a chance to come back home.I wasn’t born and raised here, but I spent so much of my life in Southern California and my children grew up here,” he said.

Outlining his immediate plans at Curry, Pastor McDaniel shared, “The first thing I’d like to do is create an atmosphere that is conducive for worship. Sometimes we can stray away from the things that are most important and sometimes we can be injured in our ministries from things that we allow to creep in.

“I want to recharge the congregation so that our focus can be on the things that matter and the things that matter are consistent with our theme, “We Worship God, Witness to the World and Work with One Another to Advance the Kingdom of God.” That’s what I want everyone focused on.”

Pastor McDaniel will also explore resuming Curry’s Spanish ministry.He said, “I believe that where we are located, we are situated to serve the whole community. We certainly can’t be serious about serving the whole community if we don’t look at the Latino population.

“We invite the community to worship with us.We are a church that is inspired by the Holy Spirit to worship God, to witness to the world about how good God is, and to advance His ministry and work,” he added.

“If you want to worship, witness and work, then come here. We believe that if we do those things, we honor God and God will bless us.”